Santa Maria!

Actually overheard someone say: "They're carrying...something."

Her name is Mary. Perhaps you've heard of her?

What Exactly is Andrea Peyser Getting At?

Andre Peyser, the sex-obsessed New York Post columnist, recently penned an opinion column on Carroll Gardens and the recent knife fight on Smith Street. I can't say I'm sure what the opinion is, or what the point is, but, have at it, you crazy old coot:

"It was a place where immaculate brownstones came with St. Mary's lawn statues. Kids played stickball in the street to escape un-air-conditioned houses. And grandmas sat on stoops night and day -- gossiping, grumbling and cursing in Italian, while picking specks of trash off well-worn stairs.

You could find a nice clam sauce over macaroni in a diner. But sustainable vegan whole-grain pasta? Fuhgeddaboutit."

Ok. Mainstream stereotypes of Italians, with an apparent lack of knowledge about remaining community? Check.

"Now, it seems the old days never really went away. They just went to sleep.

Earlier this month, in an incident straight out of the Brooklyn of old novels, fancy pizza man Mark Iancono got into a knife fight on Carroll Gardens' posh Smith Street. In broad daylight. With mob-connected ex-con Benny Geritano, whom he's known for decades.  How could this happen in 2011?"

I assume that she is trying to drum up some fears that the mafia is still active in the neighborhood, and that THEY ARE COMING FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN IN EXPENSIVE STROLLERS?

"Others say the beef was over a dame."

Dame? What is this, 1953?

"Unless the knife fighters talk, the stereotypes will continue. And the gossip."

The gossip...that you're starting?

New Round of Whining from Cobble Hill Towers

The conversion going on at the Towers has prompted some fresh cries about...well, I'm not exactly sure. From the Brooklyn Paper:

"Regardless, renters say that the changes would dismantle the mission of utopian builder Alfred T. White, who set out to show that private developers could build decent housing for the working class and still make a profit.

This is the last bastion of diversity in Cobble Hill,” said one 10-year tenant. “And to take these rent-stabilized apartments out of the housing pool is really harsh.”

Former residents agreed.

“The people who live in that building, there’s no way they can buy,” said Carl Rosenstock, who lived in the complex for 13 years."

What the Brooklyn Paper seems to miss (and, to be fair, so did the Times and Patch) is that NOTHING changes for the residents if they don't want it to. If they are subject to rent stabilization and/or rent control, they can stay in their apartments with no changes to their rent other than who they make the check out to (which could change at any time anyway). Their neighbors might change, but that is a factor of their neighbors accepting five or six figure buyouts, not a fault of the new owners.

D'Amico's

Sylvie Morgan Flatow, ne-of the Carroll Gardens Diary, took a look at D'Amicos, over at the Carroll Gardens Patch. Lets look behind some more old doors, as we've done plenty of times before:

"D’Amico Foods is a third generation family business that’s been luring customers in for over 60 years. Frank’s father, Emanuele D’Amico - a Palermitan who jumped ship to Brooklyn around 1925 – was a self-taught man who worked all sorts of jobs.  From longshoreman to laundry delivery, Emanuele searched for stable jobs that could support his family of five. In 1948, with an old-fashioned coffee roaster machine and your standard grocery items lining wood shelves, D’Amico began renting the brownstone storefront at 309 Court Street. That romantic bouquet of coffee we smell today - of beans being ground - likely spilled onto the street as if someone were pushing it out then, too. The whir of the roaster, the clang of the scooper… a pedestrian’s senses couldn’t help but heighten with each passing stroll. "

Van Brunt Waterfront

This is the third in a series of videos created for the Carroll Gardens Diary of the changing streetscape of Carroll Gardens, Red Hook and Columbia Street from the 1950's through today. Most of the changes are due to the trench of the BQE, but there have also been huge changes in the port.

Today's is a section of Van Brunt Street that used to extend north to create a street grid with two streets that only have stubs left: Irving and Sedgewick Streets.

My grandmother once told me that she and my grandfather used to go park the car down there.

"Oh, when you couldn't find a parking spot?"

"Yeah, right."

Con Ed Workers Would Rather Park

Apparently never ones to skip irony, workers at Con Edison's location on Third and Third have taken to the papers (and putting fliers under the windshield wipers of area cars) in a bit of a fear/proletariat campaign, casting Con Ed as the bad guy for...putting them in the same situation as everyone else. From the Brooklyn Paper:
photo © 2008 Jason Kuffer | more info (via: Wylio) 
"The energy giant will close the private parking lot inside its superblock complex bounded by Fourth and Third avenues and First and Third streets — sending workers hunting for spots alongside residents in the already spot-challenged area.

“This company don’t give a damn,” said union president Harry Farrell. “All they care about is money.”

Utility workers — many of whom commute from Staten Island, Queens and Long Island — say that closing the lot would flood the streets with suburbanites who are too burnt out to vie for parking."

What the article fails to mention is the specific reason as to why this free parking is being eliminated; it only cites cost savings as a reason. Given the 12% rise in electricity rates just in time for the summer, shouldn't Con Ed be lauded for attempting to keep their costs down, and unintentionally creating smarter transportation and economic policies in the process?

Evidently these members of UWUA Local 1-2 believe that Con Ed should continue to subsidize their personal commuting habits. In their (unintentionally hilarious) flier, they seem to indicate that since they are utility workers, their choice to live in the suburbs should be subsidized by all rate payers, and that, despite their noble careers in public service, they will be left with no choice but to make our lives miserable via lack of parking if this lot is closed.

Weak.

Another Look Behind Old Doors - Chic Elegance

Sylvie Morgan Flatow, ne-of the Carroll Gardens Diary, took a look at Chic Elegance, over at the Carroll Gardens Patch. Lets look behind some more old doors, as we've done plenty of times before:

"Anthony’s mother was the one who told him of the available space at 306 Court Street. He borrowed five thousand dollars from one friend, five thousand dollars from another, and soon enough was making monthly rent payments of two hundred and seventy five dollars.

How the hell am I gonna pay this back? was his first thought.

Easily. 

Chic turned into a neighborhood hotspot. In 1983, he made more money cutting hair than he makes today. And that was when the haircuts cost you less than ten dollars. "

Columbia Street Park - Finally!

The New York Post just found out about Columbia Street and the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.

"It was supposed to be Brooklyn’s next Smith Street, but the Columbia Street Waterfront District never became the borough’s next hot spot thanks to years of being saddled by relentless street-repair work and failed redevelopment projects.

But now city officials hope to finally breathe some life into this long-isolated neighborhood by transforming a dingy, two-acre lot into a new waterfront park.

Preliminary renderings show a Department of Transportation storage lot at the corner of Columbia and DeGraw streets being converted into new green space, including a dog run and tree-lined lawns and paths."

I've been hearing about the Greenway since high school, so this "announcement" is on par with the Post's coverage of the PPW bike lane, but this park should benefit the community at large and the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway specifically. The Greenway folks have taken a unique, successful tact with their development efforts, focusing on specific nodes, of which this park is one of them. Congrats to Meg, Brian and Milton!

YET MORE Oysters in the Gowanus

From a TED Talk:


Some of the designs depicted here are way, way out there, and they seem to ignore the violent nature of New York Harbor, but any dialogue regarding the Gowanus and the Harbor can only lead to more awareness.

Amazing Interaction with the He-She of the Carroll Street Stop

 Ever wondered what the story was with the he-she who is always asking for money at the 2nd Street/Place exit of the Carroll Street stop? Well, someone stopped to ask him/her about their life. From Going Under NYC:

"There it was. I had broken the silence that was part of our relationship for the last year. I was talking to a stranger.

-Oh nothing, just away working on the masterpiece.

-The masterpiece? - I said, a bit curious.

-Yes, got myself a bit of a new face, don’t you notice it?

-I think I do, actually.

-Well, you better. Because that was about a year’s worth of standing here.

-huh?

-You see… I am on my way to be a woman, but those operations sure cost a lot. I don’t know how to do much –as a man, because I got plenty of plans when I become a woman- so I beg for money."

I will admit, I have been less than outgoing to this person, but this recanting of his/her story is very interesting.  I've seen him/her in Red Hook frequently, so I assume that he/she lives there.

Another Look Behind Old Doors - Court Pastry

Sylvie Morgan Flatow, ne-of the Carroll Gardens Diary, took a look at Court Pastry, over at the Carroll Gardens Patch. Lets look behind some more old doors, as we've done plenty of times before:

"Whether you’re new to the neighborhood or not, chances are you’ve been to Court Pastry. Let me rephrase that. Chances are you’ve smelled Court Pastry. It only takes one customer to swing that door open. And once that’s done, you have to forgive yourself. It’s okay that you're just another victim held hostage to an aroma so nutty and so sweet that you're forced to stop what you’re doing and immediately brainstorm an excuse as to why you’re about to buy a pound and a half of cookies.  (Um, shouldn’t everyone celebrate President’s Day with a pound and a half of cookies? No?)" 

As someone whose family is memorialized on the wall at Court Pastry (first tray of cookies!), their cookies and lobster tails hold a special place in my heart.

Body Elite

 Local businesses are slowly coming into the digital era from the Daily News:
 
""We were losing customers like crazy," said Alimena, 49, who owns Body Elite, a fitness center in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, that's been in business for 27 years. Despite offering free month-long passes to members who referred others to join, advertising and offering jobless members a lower rate, Alimena was losing 30 to 40 people a month as people moved from the neighborhood or let their memberships expire.

"The neighborhood is not exactly a reasonable rent area," he said."

What's next, @Esposito's?

Good Bike Lane/Bad Bike Lane

Brad Lander, a rational thinker and relative newbie to elected politics, has come out with some pretty basic, logical, constructive comments on the Prospect Park West Bike Lane. He continues today, in the Brooklyn Paper, citing his own survey:

"But it’s time to accept the facts: Extensive data show the project is a success. The community board asked for it. The vast majority of neighborhood residents support it. The Department of Transportation is proposing a few modifications to make it work even better. Prospect Park West is safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and even drivers."

Of course, the Brooklyn Paper would be remiss if they didn't talk about the massive uprising of popular angst over the bike lane (read: a few old, rich people on prospect Park West who must have had neck surgery keeping them from looking left and right. One wonders if they can cross any street safely), in an opposing view point article:

"Bike lanes improve the health, safety, and environment of the city."
 
Ok, great start! What next?

"To access the park, pedestrians must cross multiple lanes of one-way moving traffic. Then they must pass through a floating row of parked cars that obstructs their view of the two-way bike lane, which they must enter blindly, before reaching the curb."

:-( I was unaware they were issuing horse blinders to all pedestrians crossing PPW.

"Under the guise of “traffic calming,” and ignoring other viable alternatives, the city removed an automobile lane, thereby causing congestion as well as significant air and noise pollution."

Willfully ignoring the FACT that removal of a travel lane has caused a decrease in the number of accidents and average speed of vehicles traveling on PPW, fewer cars somehow equals more air pollution to NBBL.

"Last year, the Department of Transportation installed this two-way obstructed lane and has since converted this “pilot program” into a permanent fixture without properly evaluating it or addressing local residents’ concerns."

One assumes that NBBL were either not present or not well represented at the numerous Community Board 6 meetings where the bike lane was discussed, where the ONLY (asinine) objections that were raised were about the loss of a few parking spaces.
 
"We think our alternatives are sound and will make our beautiful, historic neighborhood an even safer and more pleasant place."

Their alternatives are to add back a lane of traffic, and to move bike traffic into the park, where the City refuses to completely ban cars, creating no barriers between bike and car movements. Seems like NBBL would be very happy with completely separate paths for all different modes of transit (a Segway path, perhaps), since we can not interact with each other. Maybe they want PPW to look like this.

Hamilton Avenue

This is the next in a series of videos created for the Carroll Gardens Diary of the changing streetscape of Carroll Gardens, Red Hook and Columbia Street from the 1950's through today. Most of the changes are due to the trench of the BQE, but there have also been huge changes in the port.

Today's is the perpetually changing end of Hamilton Avenue.

Carroll Park Piazza?

Another of the long line of interesting ideas comes out via the Brooklyn Paper:

"He told this newspaper that his notion is to annex the “underused” western portion of the park near Court Street for the piazza, setting up tables, chairs and awnings — a cosmopolitan space where area cafés could serve drinks and food.

“When you see in Italy and Argentina plazas and piazzas really being used by all the people of a neighborhood, it’s a wonderful part of urban life,” Andersen said."

I'm not sure exactly what section of the park he wants to turn over to private enterprise. The western half of the park has the ball field, basketball hoops, hosts hockey games and is where people illegally let their dogs run around off the leash. While it may not be a grand public interactive space on the caliber of South American or European cities, to call that section of the park "underused" demonstrates either a willful ignorance, or a staggeringly self-centered view of public space.